Bayh repays taxpayer money spent on Indianapolis hotels

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Evan Bayh will repay $737 in taxpayer money spent on overnight hotel stays in Indianapolis when he was still a U.S. Senator.

A Bayh campaign spokesman says the money is being refunded out of an "abundance of caution" after facing questions over whether the expenditures were allowed by Senate ethics rules.

Bayh owns a condo in Indianapolis, but his personal schedule shows he stayed in hotels on visits to the city.

Senate records show the Democrat now running for the seat he gave up in 2010 collected several hundred dollars in taxpayer-funded reimbursements for a five-day Indianapolis trip in August 2009. The Senate was in recess and not conducting business at the time.

The Associated Press first reported last month that Bayh stayed at hotels during rare trips to Indianapolis.